Lions' red-zone struggles mounting

Ann Heisenfelt / associated press
Minnesota's Brock Vereen (21) breaks up a pass intended for Penn State's Brandon Felder on Saturday. Penn State has failed to score on six of its 20 trips to the red zone in Big Ten play.

MINNEAPOLIS - Penn State lost to Minnesota, and afterward, there really wasn't much to say.

John Butler didn't say anything, as he walked off the field and through the tunnel, where one fan yelled "Hey Butler, you've got to get the defense up" his way. None of the players did, either. They walked stoically through that same tunnel and weren't permitted by Penn State to talk about the loss afterward.

But their second-year head coach did all the talking for them.

In 10 words, Bill O'Brien summed up what has perhaps hurt Penn State more than anything since Big Ten play started, and certainly what doomed them to a 24-10 defeat against the Golden Gophers on Saturday.

"We couldn't make any plays down in the red area," he said, shaking his head. "And that's what it came down to."

The red area, to O'Brien. The red zone, to many others. The 20 yards of turf closest to the opponent's end zone. The most difficult real estate to navigate in football, but the most rewarding. Success there separates the great teams from the merely mediocre ones.

O'Brien knows all of this, and the fact his team managed scores on just two of its four trips inside Minnesota's 20 is the only statistic that mattered to him on the postgame stat sheet he spun away from him after a quick glance before his postgame press conference.

Only one of those scores resulted in a touchdown, on Zach Zwinak's punishing run over left tackle in the first quarter. Their next three chances inside the red zone netted one Sam Ficken field goal. The last one ended with quarterback Christian Hackenberg's fumble at the Minnesota 1, when all signs seemed to point to Penn State pulling within a touchdown with plenty of time remaining.

With plenty of negative attention from fans in recent weeks aimed at Butler's defense, which in fairness allowed 24 first-half points on Saturday before clamping down after halftime, the fact that O'Brien's offense has sputtered in the red zone for the last month and a half hasn't helped matters.

Since Big Ten play began at Indiana on Oct. 5, Penn State has traveled into the opposition's red zone 20 times.

The Nittany Lions have failed to score six times.

Perhaps even worse, they've found the end zone just nine times. And it should be pointed out that these numbers are boosted dramatically by the fact that they scored all five times they were in the red zone in that dramatic overtime win against Michigan on Oct. 12.

Nationally, Penn State ranks 64th in the nation, about middle of the pack, in red zone efficiency. But if factored on its own, the Nittany Lions' 70 percent scoring rate against Big Ten foes would put them in 114th place, tied with California and Florida International - two teams that have struggled badly this season.

The Nittany Lions haven't gotten consistent production from their top players inside the red zone, either.

Hackenberg has struggled badly at times. While he has thrown five touchdowns inside the red zone in five Big Ten games, he's also just 7 for 24 passing for 90 yards, with an interception.

O'Brien said some of that is due to the fact Hackenberg is still just a freshman, and learning how to move the ball effectively in the red zone typically takes an experienced hand.

"The red zone is a more challenging area for a younger guy," O'Brien said.

"There are tighter windows. Things happen faster. We had some plays down there, but we just didn't connect on them."

In fairness to Hackenberg, he isn't getting much help from his running game.

Combined, the three players that have carried the ball - Bill Belton, Zwinak and Hackenberg - have rushed 28 times for 71 yards. They've scored five touchdowns, but the only one of the three who hasn't fumbled the ball away once has been Zwinak.

Maybe the biggest surprise has been the fact star receiver Allen Robinson has been a nonfactor in the red zone. He has been targeted six times by Hackenberg, but he has yet to catch a pass.

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